In light of the upcoming Holocaust Remembrance Day, IDF Chief of
Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz held a special conference at the Yad
Vashem memorial museum in Jerusalem, affirming that Israel must not
only defend its own borders but must also serve to protect Jews
around the world.

“The Holocaust was the darkest period in Jewish history,” Gantz
stated. “Let us not forget that our enemies wanted to eradicate the
Jewish people long before the creation of the state of Israel, just
as they do now.”

“But today the situation is different,” he asserted, “because today
the state of Israel and the Israeli army are capable of dealing with,
and defeating, all forces that threaten the existence of the Jewish
people.”

"We must not only defend the borders of Israel and the citizens of
Israel, but Jews around the world,” Gantz continued. “We must look
around and pay attention to every place where Jews are being harmed
simply for being Jewish.”

"If a Jew is beaten on his way out of a synagogue in Kiev; if Jewish
children in Toulouse are murdered in cold blood; if in India,
Thailand and Georgia hostile elements try to harm Israeli and Jewish
targets - we must stand firmer than ever," he stated.

“We must remain steadfast in the face of both new and old anti-
Semitism. The state of Israel must fulfill its purpose of providing a
safe haven for every Jewish person wherever he or she might be, where
all our people can live without fear; a safe, national home defended
by its military and capable of overcoming all threats.”